This invention relates to improvements in clothes water extracting machines of the type having a water reservoir for storing water which is periodically used to create pressure against the outside surface of a flexible diaphragm to cause the diaphragm to collapse against wet clothes and to thereby squeeze the clothes water therefrom, and more particularly to flexible diaphragm type clothes water extracting machines which include pumping equipment for transferring the water from the reservoir and pressurably applying it to the flexible diaphragm in a clothes water extraction cycle and thereafter returning the so pressurably applied reservoir water back to the reservoir for reuse in a subsequent similar clothes water extraction cycle.
It has been found that articles such as nails, pins or other sharp objects often are inadvertently left in laundered clothing and cause holes in the flexible diaphragm when pressurably collapsed against the clothes during the clothes water extracting cycle. Such resulting leaks in the flexible diaphragm cause loss of reservoir water. Because of the need for relatively high pressures, up to 400 pounds per square inch, for efficient clothes water extraction in the extraction cycle, even small pin holes in the flexible diaphragm cause serious loss of reservoir water during each extraction cycle. This reservoir water loss soon results in not only an insufficient supply of water remaining in the reservoir for the pumps to achieve the needed high water pressure at the flexible diaphragm during the clothes water extraction cycle, but also results in a lack of water in the pumps which thereby tends to result in expensive pump impeller and inside pump housing damage.
This problem is particularly troublesome in commercial laundries where the volume of clothing being laundered is such as to provide substantially continuous repetitive clothes water extractions to batches of laundered wet clothing throughout the work day. Thus even very small leaks result in expensive down time and expensive servicing by technically trained personnel. The present invention constitutes a significant advance in the art in that it overcomes this problem by incorporating into the clothes water extracting machine a structure for automatically compensating for such leakage of reservoir water. The present invention thereby not only prevents damage to costly equipment from inadequate reservoir water supply, but also reduces the need for frequent monitoring of the machine by high priced technically skilled personnel. Additionally, the invention solves this problem with relatively inexpensive commercially available components as a relatively simple modification to existing clothes water extracting machines.
Accordingly it is an object of the present invention to provide an automatic servo arrangement for maintaining a sufficient supply of reservoir water at all times to meet the pumping needs of the clothes water extracting machine during each clothes water extracting cycle.
Another object is the provision of a relatively simple and inexpensive arrangement for automatically replacing reservoir water lost by leakage.
And a further object is the provision of a circuit arrangement which may relatively easily be installed in existing flexible diaphragm type clothes water extracting equipment as well as incorporated into equipment in process of manufacture.
And a still further object is the provision of an electric servo system arrangement for automatically maintaining a proper reservoir water supply which is relatively inexpensive, substantially fool proof and trouble free in its operation.